8 Social Media Marketing Myths Debunked
Separating fact from fiction
Being the former up and coming wildcard of the marketing world, social media has since boomed into a legitimate and popular marketing platform for brands. And as such, it has had its fair share of myths which are, sadly, based off of some common misconceptions. These myths still ring true to many a publisher because, well, everything happened so fast it’s difficult to keep up.
Don’t worry we’re here to keep your digital advertising game on point and help you master the art of social media marketing.
Welcome to our dojo. Before we begin, I must first ask you to forget what you think you know about marketing on social media. Here are the eight misconceptions that you must cast away before your training begins.
The Myth:
“Hurrah! Free advertising. No more paying for ad space, I have one all to myself.”
Why It’s Bunk:
Let’s get this out of the way straight out of the gate. Yes, most social networks are free. In fact, you can create an account for your pet iguana and it wouldn’t cost you a single buck. However, if you plan on gaining traction for your social media efforts you are going to have to pour quite a bit of time and money into your marketing campaigns. Don’t believe me? Let’s put it into perspective. In 2016 alone, social media ad budgets reached approximately $31 billion, a number that experts predict will increase by 26.3% in 2017.
This is because organic reach on social media has been dying a slow and painful death for a while now. These days you need to pay to be seen and even then, being seen is only half the battle. The other half is fought by producing high-quality content and utilising effective strategies, two things that require hours upon hours of good old fashioned manpower. That’s why most successful brands on social media either leverage on their in-house experts or hire agencies that specialise in digital marketing.
With that being said, social media marketing still relatively costs less and is more cost-effective when compared to traditional marketing methods. Not to mention, it offers long-term benefits that far outweigh the spend.
The Myth:
“My customers aren’t on social media. Why bother?”
Why It’s Bunk:
Consider this whopper, experts estimate that 22% of the entire world’s population is on Facebook, that’s over 1.6 Billion people on a single social network. If you still think that your customers aren’t on social media, then maybe you should consider marketing to another planet. But then again, they might already be on Facebook too.
The Myth:
“It doesn’t work, I’d be better off spending my cash somewhere else.”
Why It’s Bunk:
Let’s take a good look at the numbers.
According to a survey conducted by the Social Media Examiner of around 2,800 businesses across the globe, 80% of marketers were able to increase traffic to their website via social media, 92% said it has helped generate more exposure to their brands, and 72% stated that it has helped them develop loyal fans.
Also, if you think the benefits stop at generating engagement and brand equity, think again. According to a survey conducted by Hubspot, social media marketing can also generate leads as well as conversions:
Companies that use Twitter average 2X more leads than those that don’t
Companies with 1000+ more Twitter followers get 6X more traffic.
45% of marketers say it has a below average cost-per-lead compared to other channels.
62% of companies using LinkedIn for marketing have acquired customers from it.
52% of companies using Facebook for marketing have acquired customers from it.
44 % of companies using Twitter for marketing have acquired customers from it.
Oh, and speaking of numbers…
The Myth:
“Likes and followers are the only things that matter.”
Why It’s Bunk:
As marketers we are almost hardwired to try and justify everything we do with numbers. But it’s not our fault. We live in a world where metrics have to be analysed and KPI’s have to be met–It’s part of the job description. The problem is, it’s not the end all, be all of social media marketing. You also have to look at your metrics qualitatively to know precisely which people in your sea of followers are actually prospective customers.
To give you a better picture, imagine that your page reaches 100k fans on Facebook. If you did your homework like you were supposed to, a large ratio of those fans will actually be customers, prospects or maybe even loyal advocates of your brand. On the flipside, however, if you were too concerned on the numbers and not on a focused strategy, chances are you’ll be lucky if your efforts manage to convert one or two leads.
The Myth:
“Sell! Sell! Sell!”
Why It’s Bunk:
Quick! Think of the best way to sell your product on social media.
If you answered: “Use it as a soundboard to pitch products incessantly,” then, congratulations, a thousand of your fans just clicked unfollow.
Think of it this way, would you want to log on to your social media account to swipe up and view an endless array of ads? No. By its very nature “social” media is a tool where people like to spend their time chatting, networking and looking for interesting content. If you start posting an endless barrage of self-serving announcements, product pitches and sales-focused content everyone will start ignoring you, and you’ll turn into that weird kid in the party who keeps whispering into his hand. Instead, what you should be doing is creating content that will actually catch your audience’s attention then keeping your salesy posts to a bare minimum. Lastly, don’t be afraid to show some personality. People love brands with personality.
The Myth:
“Negative comments will ruin me.”
Why It’s Bunk:
I won’t discount that negative comments can hurt businesses, especially if you get loads of them regularly. However, you can also look at it from another angle. Negative comments on your page are great opportunities to show that your brand really does listen and care about your customers. When handled properly and mindfully your brand can even sway the tide and pull more people toward your direction, as addressing issues and crises thoughtfully and responsibly gives off the impression that you are a brand worthy of their business.
The Myth:
“I should be in every single social media network in order to be effective.”
Why It’s Bunk:
Just because there are several social media platforms that are freely available, it doesn’t mean that you should start creating accounts for every single one. When it comes to social media marketing the recurring trend will always be quality over quantity. Not only is this more efficient it’s also going to be cheaper than having to manage multiple accounts. First, figure out who your target audience is, then determine which of the available platforms will work best for that specific demographic, then work your way from there. The great thing about doing it this way is that not only will you now have more time, money and energy to develop quality content you will also be able to make sure each of your campaigns are optimised for whichever platform you’ve chosen.
The Myth:
“My nephew has his own social media account, how hard can it be?”
Why It’s Bunk:
Most of the people in this industry initially had this misconception that social networking is easy. And admittedly, some of us did too. However, as the years went on and the social media environment continued to grow into an ever more complex entity, so did the level of difficulty required to remain competitive. There’s just so much more happening and most of it is going on underneath the surface that we tend to underestimate that.
We have this preconceived notion that as long as you post quality content on your page your customers will come in droves chanting your brand name. Alas, we live in the real world where marketing requires so much more than just good content. The biggest brands on social media today didn’t get from A to Z by just posting interesting stuff. They spent months or even years on strategic planning, testing, analyzing data, cultivating good customer relations and yes, buying ad space before they reached the stellar levels of engagement and loyalty from their customers.
